Sunday, May 15, 2011

I have led a pretty interesting life thus far.....I began this blog quite awhile back, thinking that I would be like so many bloggers who are interior designers and showcase my work. By doing this, I would get clients....There's an old saying, "Man plans and God laughs"...Since moving to Texas (leaving behind a very successful design business), God has had several good laughs on me....I am not going to complain, for how could I; there are people starving, losing their homes, being radiated in Japan, being flooded out of their homes, etc. (there's that etc.)...Me, well, I'm turning 63 this month, and haven't had a good design job in which to sink my teeth for years now. In fact, my last design job of any significance was my doctor's home - just before I had major surgery.... Living in Texas has been like moving to another planet... hotternhell in the summer, temperate climate in the winter...a place with gardens called "Peckerwood" (true), and every kind of creepy-crawley under the sun (and rocks)...

I have been married several times...I do believe only Elizabeth Taylor had me trumped by a few marriages. I have been married to the final husband for twenty-eight years...so, finally got that right - and no, this is not him...this is number 3, the crazy, Latvian scientist...I'm just saying, I've had some excitement in my life. Now, at 62, going on 63, I feel as if I'm reaching another major turning point...

I also have had a few careers above and beyond interior design...I have been a photographer - still am...had a gallery (that showed me that retail for me is just not going to ever work out), a career in fashion (visual merchandising for such dept. stores as Bloomie's in Boston, etc...)...

a faux finisher, an artist, and now, I am sneaking up on writing a novel...Isn't that what everyone who is out-of-work does? I can't just sit down and hammer out a novel...no, I have to pick a period that requires years of research (Civil War), so that I can say, "I'm writing a novel, but first, the research)...

I shot this photo on one of my honeymoons (to the Latvian scientist, to be precise)...it was black-and-white, and then, I hand-painted it with oil paints...came across it stashed in an old portfolio..hard to believe that was thirty-five years ago...(so, are you beginning to wonder where the hell I'm going with this- so am I).

We have a lovely, Texas-style home...stained concrete floors, that stay cool in the heat...high ceilings, ceiling fans (I HATE the light kit, but it doesn't come off so I can cap it)..High ceilings, wonderful detailing...I love this house...I am at home here. I did the painting on the far wall...I have about six that I've been working on forever...Geminis do that...start something, and then, wander off...

For many years, I photographed children...This is Emma, who is probably out of college by now. My point? Life flies by...so, all you mama's out there, who blog about how wonderful your babies are...(and they are)..be aware...they grow up in the blink of an eye, have kids of their own, and you forget what a baby's head smells like (Heaven)...

Now, I mostly photograph my back yard...all the deer, who are hanging out here because we give them food and water. We know that we shouldn't, because they reproduce and there isn't enough food for all of them, but I can't let them starve to death in my back yard...(we are having a terrible drought.)

If you looked out your living room window, and saw this, could you let it starve to death? I can't...but then, every morning, I get up and feed two cats, feed and water the deer, feed and water the birds, feed and water whatever plants the deer haven't eaten...It's my routine.

I think this cacti (I shot this on a walk in my neighborhood...six miles a day)...describes what my heart has had to morph into...otherwise, it would shatter..watching all the sadness in the world.

We had (after months of no rain at all) a tremendous thunderstorm...Half of the country has had devestating tornadoes, and as I stood on my front porch, shooting this, I prayed those monsters didn't spawn a few and wipe us out...they didn't. We are blessed.

Oh yes, another of my "careers" was photostylist, and this was my calling card. I was raised (mostly) in Kansas..however, I can tell you with a straight face, "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore".

Finally, I've just run out...a down...and have decided that come what may, I don't think I'll be doing interiors anymore...so, what do I name this blog?

About Me

Some may notice I've recently changed this profile,simply because life changes...I've become a Texan through- and -through...living just outside of the wonderful city of Austin...Since moving here five years ago, I've become who I was before I left the South (having lived in Boston, Wisconsin, et al), where things are not as relaxed. I love it here.
I have always been involved in the arts..Interior Design, Photography, Photo Styling, Artist, Floral Designer, Gardener, writer...That's the ETC. in my business, and in my life...also, being a Gemini, I can happily move back-and-forth; for me, change is good...death is doing the same thing day in and day out....welcome to my world...